The earliest Europeans in New York were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who came down from settlements at Montreal for trade and proselytizing. New York was inhabited by various tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian speaking Native Americans at the time Dutch settlers moved into the region in the early 17th century. In 1609, the region was first claimed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch. They built Fort Nassau in 1614 at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where the present-day capital of Albany later developed. The Dutch soon also settled New Amsterdam and parts of the Hudson River Valley, establishing the colony of New Netherland based on trade and profitmaking. It was a multicultural community from the earliest days and the center of trade and immigration. The British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were quite similar to those of the present-day state. Both the Dutch and the British imported African slaves as laborers to the city and colony; African Americans were integral to the rise of the city. New York had the second-highest population of slaves after Charleston, SC.

About one-third of the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. The state constitution was enacted in 1777. New York became the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788. Slavery was extensive in New York City and some agricultural areas. The state passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery soon after the Revolutionary War, but the last slave in New York was not freed until 1827.

History

17th century

Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area. Sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year.[25] After his return to the Netherlands, word of his findings quickly spread and Dutch merchants began to explore the coast in search for profitable fur trade.

The first major battle of the American Revolutionary War after independence was declared—and the largest battle of the entire war—was fought in New York at the Battle of Long Island (a.k.a. Battle of Brooklyn) in August 1776. With the British victory, they occupied New York City, making it their military and political base of operations in North America for the duration of the conflict, and consequently the focus of General George Washington's intelligence network.

In an attempt to retain their sovereignty and remain an independent nation positioned between the new United States and British North America, four of the Iroquois Nations fought on the side of the British; only the Oneida and their dependents, the Tuscarora, allied themselves with the Americans.[28] In retaliation for attacks on the frontier led by Joseph Brant and Loyalist Mohawk and related forces, the Sullivan Expedition of 1778 and 1779 destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages, adjacent croplands and winter stores, forcing many refugees to British-held Niagara.[29]

As allies of the British, the Iroquois were forced out of New York, although they had not been part of treaty negotiations. They resettled in Canada after the war and were given land grants by the Crown. In the treaty settlement, the British ceded most Indian lands to the new United States. Because New York made treaty with the Iroquois without getting Congressional approval, some of the land purchases have been subject to land claim suits since the late 20th century by the federally recognized tribes. New York put up more than 5 million acres (20,000 km2) of former Iroquois territory for sale in the years after the Revolutionary War, leading to rapid development in upstate and western New York.[30] As per the Treaty of Paris, the last vestige of British authority in the former Thirteen Colonies—their troops in New York City—departed in 1783, which was long afterward celebrated as Evacuation Day.[31]

19th century

Transportation in western New York was difficult before canals were built in the early part of the 19th century. The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the Saint Lawrence River could be navigated to Lake Ontario, the way westward to the other Great Lakes was blocked by Niagara Falls, and so the only route to western New York was over land.

Governor DeWitt Clinton strongly advocated building a canal connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and thus all of the Great Lakes. Work commenced in 1817, and the Erie Canal was finished in 1825. Packet boats traveled up and down the canal with sightseers and visitors on board.[33] The canal was used even more extensively for commercial transport, as commodities were shipped from the Midwest, and finished goods transported along the canals in return from industries along the Mohawk Valley and New York City. It was considered an engineering marvel which opened up vast areas of New York to commerce and settlement. It enabled Great Lakes port cities such as Buffalo and Rochester to grow and prosper. It also connected the burgeoning agricultural production of the Midwest and shipping on the Great Lakes, with the port of New York City. Improving transportation, it enabled additional population migration to territories west of New York. The construction of railroads through the state superseded the canal.

New York City and upstate textile mills did extensive business with the South during the antebellum years. Nearly half of New York exports were related to cotton, and Southern planters and businessmen were so frequent in New York as to have favorite hotels. At the same time, activism for abolitionism was strong in the city and upstate, where many communities also supported the Underground Railroad. In the early days of the American Civil War, the mayor of New York recommended that the city secede so its trade would not be damaged, but ultimately the city supported the war.[34] During the Civil War, New York state provided more than 370,000 soldiers to the Union armies. Over 53,000 New Yorkers died in service, roughly one of every seven who served.[35]

Since the early 19th century, New York City has been the largest port of entry for immigration into the United States. Immigration has built the city and nation. In the United States, the federal government did not assume direct jurisdiction for immigration until 1890. Prior to this time, the matter was delegated to the individual states, then via contract between the states and the federal government. Most immigrants to New York would disembark at the bustling docks along the Hudson and East Rivers, in the eventual Lower Manhattan. On May 4, 1847 the New York State Legislature created the Board of Commissioners of Immigration to regulate immigration.[36]

The first permanent immigration depot in New York was established in 1855 at Castle Garden; a converted War of 1812 era fort located at the Battery at the tip of Manhattan. Today it stands within Battery Park. The first immigrants to arrive at the new depot were aboard three ships that had just been released from quarantine. Castle Garden served as New York's immigrant depot until it closed on April 18, 1890 when the federal government assumed control over immigration. During that period, more than 8 million immigrants passed through its doors (two out of every three U.S. immigrants).[37]

When the federal government assumed control, it established the Bureau of Immigration, which chose the three-acre Ellis Island in Upper New York Harbor for an entry depot. Already federally controlled, the island had served as an ammunition depot. It was chosen due its relative isolation with proximity to New York City and the rail lines of Jersey City, New Jersey, via a short ferry ride. While the island was being developed and expanded via land reclamation, the federal government operated a temporary depot at the Barge Office at the Battery.[38]

Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, and operated as a central immigration center until the National Origins Act was passed in 1924, reducing immigration. After that date, the only immigrants to pass through were displaced persons or war refugees. The island ceased all immigration processing on November 12, 1954 when the last person detained on the island, Norwegian seaman Arne Peterssen, was released. He had overstayed his shore leave and left on the 10:15 a.m. Manhattan-bound ferry to return to his ship.

More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. In the 21st century, more than 100 million Americans across the United States can trace their ancestry to these immigrants.

Ellis Island was the subject of a contentious and long-running border and jurisdictional dispute between New York State and the State of New Jersey, as both claimed it. The issue was settled in 1998 by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the original 3.3 acre island was New York State territory and that the balance of the 27.5 acres (11 ha) added after 1834 by landfill was in New Jersey.[39] The island was added to the National Park Service system in May 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and is still owned by the Federal government as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Ellis Island was opened to the public as a museum of immigration in 1990.[40]

September 11, 2001 attacks

On September 11, 2001, two of four hijacked planes were flown into the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The towers collapsed. 7 World Trade Center also collapsed due to damage from fires. The other buildings of the World Trade Center complex were damaged beyond repair and soon after demolished. The collapse of the Twin Towers caused extensive damage and resulted in the deaths of 2,606 people, in addition to those on the planes. Since September 11, most of Lower Manhattan has been restored. In the years since, many rescue workers and residents of the area have developed several life-threatening illnesses, and some have already died.[41]

A memorial at the site was opened to the public on September 11, 2011. A permanent museum later opened at the site on March 21, 2014. When completed that year, the new One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, was the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, at 1,776 feet.[42] Other skyscrapers are under construction at the site.

Hurricane Sandy, 2012

On October 29 and 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive destruction of the state's shorelines, ravaging portions of New York City and Long Island with record-high storm surge, with severe flooding and high winds causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, and leading to gasoline shortages and disruption of mass transit systems. The storm and its profound effects have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of New York City and Long Island to minimize the risk from another such future event. This is considered highly probably due to global warming and rise in sea levels.[44]

Most of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny Plateau, which rises from the southeast to the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.[45]

In contrast with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state's geographic area is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United States. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Olympic National Parks combined.[46] New York established the first state park in the United States at Niagara Falls in 1885. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction.

Upstate and downstate are often used informally to distinguish New York City or its greater metropolitan area from the rest of New York State. The placement of a boundary between the two is a matter of great contention.[47] Unofficial and loosely defined regions of Upstate New York include the Southern Tier, which often includes the counties along the border with Pennsylvania,[48] and the North Country, which can mean anything from the strip along the Canadian border to everything north of the Mohawk River.[49]

The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of −13 °F (−25 °C) or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and 5 °F (−15 °C) or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau.

The New York City/Long Island area and lower portions of the Hudson Valley have rather warm summers by comparison, with some periods of high, uncomfortable humidity. The remainder of New York State enjoys pleasantly warm summers, marred by only occasional, brief intervals of sultry conditions. Summer daytime temperatures usually range from the upper 70s to mid-80s °F (25 to 30 °C), over much of the state.

New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of greenhouse gasses generated per person. This relative efficiency is primarily due to the dense, compact settlement in the New York City metropolitan area, and the state population's high rate of mass transit use in this area and between major cities.[51]

Monthly normal high and low temperatures for various New York cities (°F)[52]

The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885,[54] which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of 700,000 acres (2,800 km2) of land,[54] the park is a habitat for bobcats, minks, and fishers. There are some 400 black bears living in the region.[55] The state operates numerous campgrounds, and there are over 300 miles (480 km) of multi-use trails in the Park.

African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan (New York City) is the only National Monument dedicated to Americans of African ancestry. It preserves a site containing the remains of more than 400 Africans buried during the late 17th and 18th centuries in a portion of what was the largest colonial-era cemetery for people of African descent, both free and enslaved, with an estimated tens of thousands of remains interred. The site's excavation and study were called "the most important historic urban archeological project in the United States."[57]

Gateway National Recreation Area is more than 26,000 acres (10,522 ha) of water, marshes, and shoreline at the entrance to New York Harbor, the majority of which lies within New York. Including areas on Long Island and in New Jersey, it covers more area than that of two Manhattan Islands.

Regions

Due to its long history, the state of New York has several overlapping (and often conflicting) definitions of regions within the state. This is further exacerbated by the colloquial use of such regional labels. The New York State Department of Economic Development provides two distinct definitions of these regions. It divides the state into ten economic regions,[58] which approximately correspond to terminology used by residents:

Administrative divisions

New York is divided into 62 counties. Aside from the five counties of New York City, each of these counties is subdivided into towns and cities. Towns can contain incorporated villages or unincorporated hamlets. New York City is divided into five boroughs, each coterminous with a county.

Major cities

There are 62 cities in New York. The largest city in the state and the most populous city in the United States is New York City, which comprises five counties (boroughs): Bronx, New York (Manhattan), Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Richmond (Staten Island). New York City is home to more than two-fifths of the state's population. Albany, the sixth-largest city, is the state capital. The smallest city is Sherrill, New York, in Oneida County. Hempstead is the town with the largest population. If it were a city, it would be the second largest in the state, with over 700,000 residents.

The major cities of the state developed along the key transportation and trade routes of the early 19th century, including the Erie Canal and railroads paralleling it. Today, the New York Thruway acts as a modern counterpart to commercial water routes.[62]

Population

New York population distribution map

The distribution of change in population growth is uneven in New York State; the New York City metropolitan area is growing considerably, along with Saratoga County, while most of Western New York is nearly stagnant. According to immigration statistics, the state is a leading recipient of migrants from around the globe. Between 2000 and 2005, immigration failed to surpass emigration, a trend that has been reversing since 2006. New York State lost two House seats in the 2011 congressional reapportionment, secondary to relatively slow growth when compared to the rest of the United States. In 2000 and 2005, more people moved from New York to Florida than from any one state to another.[64] However, New York State has the second largest international immigrant population in the country among the American states, at 4.2 million as of 2008; most reside in and around New York City, due to its size, high profile, vibrant economy, and cosmopolitan culture.

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of New York was 19,746,227 on July 1, 2014, a 1.9% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[4] Despite the open land in the state, New York's population is very urban, with 92% of residents living in an urban area,[65] predominantly in the New York City metropolitan area.

Two-thirds of New York State's population resides in New York City Metropolitan Area. New York City is the most populous city in the United States,[66] with an estimated record high of 8,336,697 residents as of 2012,[8] incorporating more immigration into the city than emigration since the 2010 United States Census.[67] More people live in New York City than in the next two most populous U.S. cities (Los Angeles[68] and Chicago[69]) combined, which, according to the United States Census Bureau, is estimated to total 6,572,655. Long Island alone accounted for a Census-estimated 7,740,208 residents in 2013, representing 39.4% of New York State's population.[21][22][23][24]

The state's most populous racial group, non-Hispanic white, has declined as a proportion of the state population from 94.6% in 1940 to 58.3% in 2010.[74][79] As of 2011, 55.6% of New York's population younger than age 1 were minorities.[80] New York's robustly increasing Jewish population, the largest outside of Israel,[81] was the highest among states both by percentage and absolute number in 2012.[82] It is driven by the high reproductive rate of Orthodox Jewish families,[83] particularly in Brooklyn and communities of the Hudson Valley.

In the 2000 Census, Italian Americans in New York were the largest in any state; they made up the largest self-identified ancestral group in Staten Island and Long Island, followed by Irish-Americans. Albany and the Mohawk Valley also have populations with high numbers of ethnic Irish and ethnic Italian, reflecting 19th and early 20th-century immigration. In Buffalo and western New York, German-Americans comprise the largest ancestry. In the North Country of New York, French Canadians represent the leading ethnicity, given the area's proximity to Quebec. Americans of English ancestry are present throughout all of upstate New York, reflecting early colonial and later immigrants.

6.5% of New York's population were under five years of age, 24.7% under 18, and 12.9% were 65 or older. Females made up 51.8% of the state's population.

As of 2010, 70.72% (12,788,233) of New York residents aged five and older reported speaking only English at home, while 14.44% (2,611,903) spoke Spanish, 2.61% (472,955) Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin), 1.20% (216,468) Russian, 1.18% (213,785) Italian, 0.79% (142,169) French Creole, 0.75% (135,789) French, 0.67% (121,917) Yiddish, 0.63% (114,574) Korean, and Polish was spoken by 0.53% (95,413) of the population over the age of five. In total, 29.28% (5,295,016) of New York's population aged five and older reported speaking a language other than English.[2]

LGBT

Roughly 3.8 percent of the state's adult population self-identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. This constitutes a total LGBT adult population of 570,388 individuals.[95] In 2010, the number of same-sex couple households stood at roughly 48,932.[96] New York was the fifth state to license same-sex marriages, after New Hampshire. Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, stated that "same-sex marriages in New York City have generated an estimated $259 million in economic impact and $16 million in City revenues" in the first year after the enactment of the Marriage Equality Act".[97]Same-sex marriages in New York were legalized on June 24, 2011 and were authorized to take place beginning 30 days thereafter.[98]

New York's gross state product in 2010 was $1.16 trillion, ranking third in size behind the larger states of California and Texas.[100] If New York State were an independent nation, it would rank as the 15th largest economy in the world. Its 2007 per capita personal income was $46,364, placing it sixth in the nation behind Maryland and eighth in the world behind Ireland. New York's agricultural outputs are dairy products, cattle and other livestock, vegetables, nursery stock, and apples. Its industrial outputs are printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment, machinery, chemical products, and tourism. Sand, gravel, asphalt, and cement production are also significant industries in the state.

Creative industries such as new media, advertising, fashion, design and architecture account for a growing share of employment, with New York City possessing a strong competitive advantage in these industries.[111]

New York exports a wide variety of goods such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, computers and electronics, cut diamonds, and automobile parts. In 2007, the state exported a total of $71.1 billion worth of goods, with the five largest foreign export markets being Canada (US$15 billion), United Kingdom (US$6 billion), Switzerland (US$5.9 billion), Israel (US$4.9 billion), and Hong Kong (US$3.4 billion). New York's largest imports are oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity, rough diamonds, and lumber.

New York is a major agricultural producer, ranking among the top five states for agricultural products such as dairy, apples, cherries, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and maple syrup. The state is the largest producer of cabbage in the U.S. The state has about a quarter of its land in farms and produced $3.4 billion in agricultural products in 2001. The south shore of Lake Ontario provides the right mix of soils and microclimate for many apple, cherry, plum, pear and peachorchards. Apples are also grown in the Hudson Valley and near Lake Champlain.

New York is the nation's third-largest grape-producing state, and second-largest wine producer by volume, behind California. The south shore of Lake Erie and the southern Finger Lakes hillsides have many vineyards. In addition, the North Fork of Long Island developed vineyards, production and visitors' facilities in the last three decades of the 20th century. In 2004, New York's wine and grape industry brought $6 billion into the state economy.

The state has 30,000 acres (120 km2) of vineyards, 212 wineries, and produced 200 million bottles of wine in 2004. A moderately sized saltwater commercial fishery is located along the Atlantic side of Long Island. The principal catches by value are clams, lobsters, squid, and flounder.

Transportation

New York has one of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of the state and the unique issues of the city brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome perennially. Population expansion of the state has followed the path of the early waterways, first the Hudson River and Mohawk River, then the Erie Canal. In the 19th century, railroads were constructed along the river valleys, followed by the New York State Thruway in the 20th century. The New York State Department of Transportation has been criticized for lack of road maintenance in some areas, and for collection of tolls past the payback for construction. Until 2006, tolls were collected on the Thruway within The City of Buffalo. They were dropped late in 2006 during the campaign for governor (both candidates called for their removal).

License plate introduced on April 1, 2010 for vehicles registered in New York State.

Former License plate design introduced in 2001

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYSDMV or DMV) is the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other motor vehicles, as well as licensing drivers in the State of New York. As of 2008, the NYSDMV has 11,284,546 drivers licenses on file[117] and 10,697,644 vehicle registrations in force.[118] All gasoline-powered vehicles registered in New York State are required to have an emissions inspection every 12 months, in order to ensure environmental controls are working to prevent air pollution. Diesel-powered vehicles with a Gross Weight Rating over 8 500 lb that are registered in the NY Metropolitan Area must get an annual emissions inspection. All vehicles registered in NYS must get an annual safety inspection.

Elections

In the last few decades, New York State has generally supported candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won New York State by 25 percentage points in 2008, a bigger margin than John Kerry in 2004. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state's other urban areas, such as Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are also Democratic. Rural upstate New York, however, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to favor Republicans. Heavily populated suburban areas downstate, such as Westchester County and Long Island, have swung between the major parties over the past 25 years, but more often than not support Democrats.

New York City is the most important source of political fundraising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore.[121]

Federal representation

The State of New York sends 27 members to the House of Representatives[122] in addition to its two United States Senators. As of the 2000 census and the redistricting for the 2002 elections, the state had 29 members in the House, but the representation was reduced to 27 in 2013 due to the state's slower overall population growth relative to the overall national population growth.[123] From 2016 New York will have 29 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its peak of 47 votes from 1933 to 1953).

Politics

The state has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal government. New York State receives 82 cents in services for every $1 it sends in taxes to the federal government in Washington.[124] The state ranks near the bottom, in 42nd place, in federal spending per tax dollar.[125]

Education

The University of the State of New York oversees all public primary, middle-level, and secondary education in the state, while the New York City Department of Education manages the public school system in New York City. In 1894, reflecting general racial discrimination, the state passed a law that allowed communities to set up separate schools for children of African-American descent. But the Free African School had been set up in New York City in the early 19th century. In 1900, the state passed another law requiring integrated schools.[126]